1. Representative on earth of that divine Master Who while embracing in the immensity
of His love all mankind, even unworthy sinners, showed nevertheless a special tenderness
and affection for children, and expressed Himself in those singularly touching words:
"Suffer the little children to come unto Me,"[1] We also on every occasion have
endeavored to show the predilection wholly paternal which We bear towards them,
particularly by Our assiduous care and timely instructions with reference to the Christian
education of youth.

2. And so, in the spirit of the Divine Master, We have directed a helpful word, now of
admonition, now of exhortation, now of direction, to youths and to their educators, to
fathers and mothers, on various points of Christian education, with that solicitude which
becomes the common Father of all the Faithful, with an insistence in season and out of
season, demanded by our pastoral office and inculcated by the Apostle: "Be instant in
season, out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine."[2]
Such insistence is called for in these our times, when, alas, there is so great and
deplorable an absence of clear and sound principles, even regarding problems the most
fundamental.

3. Now this same general condition of the times, this ceaseless agitation in various
ways of the problem of educational rights and systems in different countries, the desire
expressed to Us with filial confidence by not a few of yourselves, Venerable Brethren, and
by members of your flocks, as well as Our deep affection towards youth above referred to,
move Us to turn more directly to this subject, if not to treat it in all its well-nigh
inexhaustible range of theory and practice, at least to summarize its main principles,
throw full light on its important conclusions, and point out its practical applications.

4. Let this be the record of Our Sacerdotal Jubilee which, with altogether special
affection, We wish to dedicate to our beloved youth, and to commend to all those whose
office and duty is the work of education.

5. Indeed never has there been so much discussion about education as nowadays; never
have exponents of new pedagogical theories been so numerous, or so many methods and means
devised, proposed and debated, not merely to facilitate education, but to create a new
system infallibly efficacious, and capable of preparing the present generations for that
earthly happiness which they so ardently desire.

6. The reason is that men, created by God to His image and likeness and destined for
Him Who is infinite perfection, realize today more than ever amid the most exuberant
material progress, the insufficiency of earthly goods to produce true happiness either for
the individual or for the nations. And hence they feel more keenly in themselves the
impulse towards a perfection that is higher, which impulse is implanted in their rational
nature by the Creator Himself. This perfection they seek to acquire by means of education.
But many of them with, it would seem, too great insistence on the etymological meaning of
the word, pretend to draw education out of human nature itself and evolve it by its own
unaided powers. Such easily fall into error, because, instead of fixing their gaze on God,
first principle and last end of the whole universe, they fall back upon themselves,
becoming attached exclusively to passing things of earth; and thus their restlessness will
never cease till they direct their attention and their efforts to God, the goal of all
perfection, according to the profound saying of Saint Augustine: "Thou didst create
us, O Lord, for Thyself, and our heart is restless till it rest in Thee."[3]

7. It is therefore as important to make no mistake in education, as it is to make no
mistake in the pursuit of the last end, with which the whole work of education is
intimately and necessarily connected. In fact, since education consists essentially in
preparing man for what he must be and for what he must do here below, in order to attain
the sublime end for which he was created, it is clear that there can be no true education
which is not wholly directed to man's last end, and that in the present order of
Providence, since God has revealed Himself to us in the Person of His Only Begotten Son,
Who alone is "the way, the truth and the life," there can be no ideally perfect
education which is not Christian education.

8. From this we see the supreme importance of Christian education, not merely for each
individual, but for families and for the whole of human society, whose perfection comes
from the perfection of the elements that compose it. From these same principles, the
excellence, we may well call it the unsurpassed excellence, of the work of Christian
education becomes manifest and clear; for after all it aims at securing the Supreme Good,
that is, God, for the souls of those who are being educated, and the maximum of well-being
possible here below for human society. And this it does as efficaciously as man is capable
of doing it, namely by co-operating with God in the perfecting of individuals and of
society, in as much as education makes upon the soul the first, the most powerful and
lasting impression for life according to the well-known saying of the Wise Man, "A
young man according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it."[4]
With good reason therefore did St. John Chrysostom say, "What greater work is there
than training the mind and forming the habits of the young?"[5]

9. But nothing discloses to us the supernatural beauty and excellence of the work of
Christian education better than the sublime expression of love of our Blessed Lord,
identifying Himself with children, "Whosoever shall receive one such child as this in
My name, receiveth Me."[6]

10. Now in order that no mistake be made in this work of utmost importance, and in
order to conduct it in the best manner possible with the help of God's grace, it is
necessary to have a clear and definite idea of Christian education in its essential
aspects, viz., who has the mission to educate, who are the subjects to be educated, what
are the necessary accompanying circumstances, what is the end and object proper to
Christian education according to God's established order in the economy of His Divine
Providence.

11. Education is essentially a social and not a mere individual activity. Now there are
three necessary societies, distinct from one another and yet harmoniously combined by God,
into which man is born: two, namely the family and civil society, belong to the natural
order; the third, the Church, to the supernatural order.

12. In the first place comes the family, instituted directly by God for its peculiar
purpose, the generation and formation of offspring; for this reason it has priority of
nature and therefore of rights over civil society. Nevertheless, the family is an
imperfect society, since it has not in itself all the means for its own complete
development; whereas civil society is a perfect society, having in itself all the means
for its peculiar end, which is the temporal well-being of the community; and so, in this
respect, that is, in view of the common good, it has pre-eminence over the family, which
finds its own suitable temporal perfection precisely in civil society.

13. The third society, into which man is born when through Baptism he reaches the
divine life of grace, is the Church; a society of the supernatural order and of universal
extent; a perfect society, because it has in itself all the means required for its own
end, which is the eternal salvation of mankind; hence it is supreme in its own domain.

14. Consequently, education which is concerned with man as a whole, individually and
socially, in the order of nature and in the order of grace, necessarily belongs to all
these three societies, in due proportion, corresponding, according to the disposition of
Divine Providence, to the co-ordination of their respecting ends.

15. And first of all education belongs preeminently to the Church, by reason of a
double title in the supernatural order, conferred exclusively upon her by God Himself;
absolutely superior therefore to any other title in the natural order.

16. The first title is founded upon the express mission and supreme authority to teach,
given her by her Divine Founder: "All power is given to me in Heaven and in earth.
Going therefore teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you, and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the
world."[7] Upon this magisterial office Christ conferred infallibility, together with
the command to teach His doctrine. Hence the Church "was set by her divine Author as
the pillar and ground of truth, in order to teach the divine Faith to men, and keep whole
and inviolate the deposit confided to her; to direct and fashion men, in all their actions
individually and socially, to purity of morals and integrity of life, in accordance with
revealed doctrine."[8]

17. The second title is the supernatural motherhood, in virtue of which the Church,
spotless spouse of Christ, generates, nurtures and educates souls in the divine life of
grace, with her Sacraments and her doctrine. With good reason then does St. Augustine
maintain: "He has not God for father who refuses to have the Church as
mother."[9]

18. Hence it is that in this proper object of her mission, that is, "in faith and
morals, God Himself has made the Church sharer in the divine magisterium and, by a special
privilege, granted her immunity from error; hence she is the mistress of men, supreme and
absolutely sure, and she has inherent in herself an inviolable right to freedom in
teaching."[10] By necessary consequence the Church is independent of any sort of
earthly power as well in the origin as in the exercise of her mission as educator, not
merely in regard to her proper end and object, but also in regard to the means necessary
and suitable to attain that end. Hence with regard to every other kind of human learning
and instruction, which is the common patrimony of individuals and society, the Church has
an independent right to make use of it, and above all to decide what may help or harm
Christian education. And this must be so, because the Church as a perfect society has an
independent right to the means conducive to its end, and because every form of
instruction, no less than every human action, has a necessary connection with man's last
end, and therefore cannot be withdrawn from the dictates of the divine law, of which the
Church is guardian, interpreter and infallible mistress.

19. This truth is clearly set forth by Pius X of saintly memory: Whatever a Christian
does even in the order of things of earth, he may not overlook the supernatural; indeed he
must, according to the teaching of Christian wisdom, direct all things towards the supreme
good as to his last end; all his actions, besides, in so far as good or evil in the order
of morality, that is, in keeping or not with natural and divine law, fall under the
judgment and jurisdiction of the Church.[11]

20. It is worthy of note how a layman, an excellent writer and at the same time a
profound and conscientious thinker, has been able to understand well and express exactly
this fundamental Catholic doctrine: The Church does not say that morality belongs purely,
in the sense of exclusively, to her; but that it belongs wholly to her. She has never
maintained that outside her fold and apart from her teaching, man cannot arrive at any
moral truth; she has on the contrary more than once condemned this opinion because it has
appeared under more forms than one. She does however say, has said, and will ever say,
that because of her institution by Jesus Christ, because of the Holy Ghost sent her in His
name by the Father, she alone possesses what she has had immediately from God and can
never lose, the whole of moral truth, omnem veritatem, in which all individual
moral truths are included, as well those which man may learn by the help of reason, as
those which form part of revelation or which may be deduced from it.[12]

21. Therefore with full right the Church promotes letters, science, art in so far as
necessary or helpful to Christian education, in addition to her work for the salvation of
souls: founding and maintaining schools and institutions adapted to every branch of
learning and degree of culture.[13] Nor may even physical culture, as it is called, be
considered outside the range of her maternal supervision, for the reason that it also is a
means which may help or harm Christian education.

22. And this work of the Church in every branch of culture is of immense benefit to
families and nations which without Christ are lost, as St. Hilary points out correctly:
"What can be more fraught with danger for the world than the rejection of
Christ?"[14] Nor does it interfere in the least with the regulations of the State,
because the Church in her motherly prudence is not unwilling that her schools and
institutions for the education of the laity be in keeping with the legitimate dispositions
of civil authority; she is in every way ready to co-operate with this authority and to
make provision for a mutual understanding, should difficulties arise.

23. Again it is the inalienable right as well as the indispensable duty of the Church,
to watch over the entire education of her children, in all institutions, public or
private, not merely in regard to the religious instruction there given, but in regard to
every other branch of learning and every regulation in so far as religion and morality are
concerned.[15]

24. Nor should the exercise of this right be considered undue interference, but rather
maternal care on the part of the Church in protecting her children from the grave danger
of all kinds of doctrinal and moral evil. Moreover this watchfulness of the Church not
merely can create no real inconvenience, but must on the contrary confer valuable
assistance in the right ordering and well-being of families and of civil society; for it
keeps far away from youth the moral poison which at that inexperienced and changeable age
more easily penetrates the mind and more rapidly spreads its baneful effects. For it is
true, as Leo XIII has wisely pointed out, that without proper religious and moral
instruction "every form of intellectual culture will be injurious; for young people
not accustomed to respect God, will be unable to bear the restraint of a virtuous life,
and never having learned to deny themselves anything, they will easily be incited to
disturb the public order."[16]

25. The extent of the Church's mission in the field of education is such as to embrace
every nation, without exception, according to the command of Christ: "Teach ye all
nations;"[17] and there is no power on earth that may lawfully oppose her or stand in
her way. In the first place, it extends over all the Faithful, of whom she has anxious
care as a tender mother. For these she has throughout the centuries created and conducted
an immense number of schools and institutions in every branch of learning. As We said on a
recent occasion: "Right back in the far-off middle ages when there were so many (some
have even said too many) monasteries, convents, churches, collegiate churches, cathedral
chapters, etc., there was attached to each a home of study, of teaching, of Christian
education. To these we must add all the universities, spread over every country and always
by the initiative an under the protection of the Holy See and the Church. That grand
spectacle, which today we see better, as it is nearer to us and more imposing because of
the conditions of the age, was the spectacle of all times; and they who study and compare
historical events remain astounded at what the Church has been able to do in this matter,
and marvel at the manner in which she had succeeded in fulfilling her God-given mission to
educate generations of men to a Christian life, producing everywhere a magnificent harvest
of fruitful results. But if we wonder that the Church in all times has been able to gather
about her and educate hundreds, thousands, millions of students, no less wonderful is it
to bear in mind what she has done not only in the field of education, but in that also of
true and genuine erudition. For, if so many treasures of culture, civilization and
literature have escaped destruction, this is due to the action by which the Church, even
in times long past and uncivilized, has shed so bright a light in the domain of letters,
of philosophy, of art and in a special manner of architecture."[18]

26. All this the Church has been able to do because her mission to educate extends
equally to those outside the Fold, seeing that all men are called to enter the kingdom of
God and reach eternal salvation. Just as today when her missions scatter schools by the
thousand in districts and countries not yet Christian, from the banks of the Ganges to the
Yellow river and the great islands and archipelagos of the Pacific ocean, from the Dark
Continent to the Land of Fire and to frozen Alaska, so in every age the Church by her
missionaries has educated to Christian life and to civilization the various peoples which
now constitute the Christian nations of the civilized world.

27. Hence it is evident that both by right and in fact the mission to educate belongs
preeminently to the Church, and that no one free from prejudice can have a reasonable
motive for opposing or impeding the Church in this her work, of which the world today
enjoys the precious advantages.

28. This is the more true because the rights of the family and of the State, even the
rights of individuals regarding a just liberty in the pursuit of science, of methods of
science and all sorts of profane culture, not only are not opposed to this pre-eminence of
the Church, but are in complete harmony with it. The fundamental reason for this harmony
is that the supernatural order, to which the Church owes her rights, not only does not in
the least destroy the natural order, to which pertain the other rights mentioned, but
elevates the natural and perfects it, each affording mutual aid to the other, and
completing it in a manner proportioned to its respective nature and dignity. The reason is
because both come from God, who cannot contradict Himself: "The works of God are
perfect and all His ways are judgments."[19]

29. This becomes clearer when we consider more closely and in detail the mission of
education proper to the family and to the State.

30. In the first place the Church's mission of education is in wonderful agreement with
that of the family, for both proceed from God, and in a remarkably similar manner. God
directly communicates to the family, in the natural order, fecundity, which is the
principle of life, and hence also the principle of education to life, together with
authority, the principle of order.

31. The Angelic Doctor with his wonted clearness of thought and precision of style,
says: "The father according to the flesh has in a particular way a share in that
principle which in a manner universal is found in God.... The father is the principle of
generation, of education and discipline and of everything that bears upon the perfecting
of human life."[20]

32. The family therefore holds directly from the Creator the mission and hence the
right to educate the offspring, a right inalienable because inseparably joined to the
strict obligation, a right anterior to any right whatever of civil society and of the
State, and therefore inviolable on the part of any power on earth.

33. That this right is inviolable St. Thomas proves as follows: The child is naturally
something of the father . . . so by natural right the child, before reaching the use of
reason, is under the father's care. Hence it would be contrary to natural justice if the
child, before the use of reason, were removed from the care of its parents, or if any
disposition were made concerning him against the will of the parents.[21] And as this duty
on the part of the parents continues up to the time when the child is in a position to
provide for itself, this same inviolable parental right of education also endures.
"Nature intends not merely the generation of the offspring, but also its development
and advance to the perfection of man considered as man, that is, to the state of
virtue"[22] says the same St. Thomas.

34. The wisdom of the Church in this matter is expressed with precision and clearness
in the Codex of Canon Law, can. 1113: "Parents are under a grave obligation to see to
the religious and moral education of their children, as well as to their physical and
civic training, as far as they can, and moreover to provide for their temporal
well-being."[23]

35. On this point the common sense of mankind is in such complete accord, that they
would be in open contradiction with it who dared maintain that the children belong to the
State before they belong to the family, and that the State has an absolute right over
their education. Untenable is the reason they adduce, namely that man is born a citizen
and hence belongs primarily to the State, not bearing in mind that before being a citizen
man must exist; and existence does not come from the State, but from the parents, as Leo
XIII wisely declared: "The children are something of the father, and as it were an
extension of the person of the father; and, to be perfectly accurate, they enter into and
become part of civil society, not directly by themselves, but through the family in which
they were born."[24] "And therefore," says the same Leo XIII, "the
father's power is of such a nature that it cannot be destroyed or absorbed by the State;
for it has the same origin as human life itself."[25] It does not however follow from
this that the parents' right to educate their children is absolute and despotic; for it is
necessarily subordinated to the last end and to natural and divine law, as Leo XIII
declares in another memorable encyclical, where He thus sums up the rights and duties of
parents: "By nature parents have a right to the training of their children, but with
this added duty that the education and instruction of the child be in accord with the end
for which by God's blessing it was begotten. Therefore it is the duty of parents to make
every effort to prevent any invasion of their rights in this matter, and to make
absolutely sure that the education of their children remain under their own control in
keeping with their Christian duty, and above all to refuse to send them to those schools
in which there is danger of imbibing the deadly poison of impiety."[26]

36. It must be borne in mind also that the obligation of the family to bring up
children, includes not only religious and moral education, but physical and civic
education as well,[27] principally in so far as it touches upon religion and morality .

37. This incontestable right of the family has at various times been recognized by
nations anxious to respect the natural law in their civil enactments. Thus, to give one
recent example, the Supreme Court of the United States of North America, in a decision on
an important controversy, declared that it is not in the competence of the State to fix
any uniform standard of education by forcing children to receive instruction exclusively
in public schools, and it bases its decision on the natural law: the child is not the mere
creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled
with the high duty, to educate him and prepare him for the fulfillment of his
obligations.[28]

38. History bears witness how, particularly in modern times, the State has violated and
does violate rights conferred by God on the family. At the same time it shows
magnificently how the Church has ever protected and defended these rights, a fact proved
by the special confidence which parents have in Catholic schools. As We pointed out
recently in Our letter to the Cardinal Secretary of State: "The family has
instinctively understood this to be so, and from the earliest days of Christianity down to
our own times, fathers and mothers, even those of little or no faith, have been sending or
bringing their children in millions to places of education under the direction of the
Church."[29]

39. It is paternal instinct, given by God, that thus turns with confidence to the
Church, certain of finding in her the protection of family rights, thereby illustrating
that harmony with which God has ordered all things. The Church is indeed conscious of her
divine mission to all mankind, and of the obligation which all men have to practice the
one true religion; and therefore she never tires of defending her right, and of reminding
parents of their duty, to have all Catholic-born children baptized and brought up as
Christians. On the other hand so jealous is she of the family's inviolable natural right
to educate the children, that she never consents, save under peculiar circumstances and
with special cautions, to baptize the children of infidels, or provide for their education
against the will of the parents, till such time as the children can choose for themselves
and freely embrace the Faith.[30]

40. We have therefore two facts of supreme importance. As We said in Our discourse
cited above: The Church placing at the disposal of families her office of mistress and
educator, and the families eager to profit by the offer, and entrusting their children to
the Church in hundreds and thousands. These two facts recall and proclaim a striking truth
of the greatest significance in the moral and social order. They declare that the mission
of education regards before all, above all, primarily the Church and the family, and this
by natural and divine law, and that therefore it cannot be slighted, cannot be evaded,
cannot be supplanted.[31]

41. From such priority of rights on the part of the Church and of the family in the
field of education, most important advantages, as we have seen, accrue to the whole of
society. Moreover in accordance with the divinely established order of things, no damage
can follow from it to the true and just rights of the State in regard to the education of
its citizens.

42. These rights have been conferred upon civil society by the Author of nature
Himself, not by title of fatherhood, as in the case of the Church and of the family, but
in virtue of the authority which it possesses to promote the common temporal welfare,
which is precisely the purpose of its existence. Consequently education cannot pertain to
civil society in the same way in which it pertains to the Church and to the family, but in
a different way corresponding to its own particular end and object.

43. Now this end and object, the common welfare in the temporal order, consists in that
peace and security in which families and individual citizens have the free exercise of
their rights, and at the same time enjoy the greatest spiritual and temporal prosperity
possible in this life, by the mutual union and co-ordination of the work of all. The
function therefore of the civil authority residing in the State is twofold, to protect and
to foster, but by no means to absorb the family and the individual, or to substitute
itself for them.

44. Accordingly in the matter of education, it is the right, or to speak more
correctly, it is the duty of the State to protect in its legislation, the prior rights,
already described, of the family as regards the Christian education of its offspring, and
consequently also to respect the supernatural rights of the Church in this same realm of
Christian education.

45. It also belongs to the State to protect the rights of the child itself when the
parents are found wanting either physically or morally in this respect, whether by
default, incapacity or misconduct, since, as has been shown, their right to educate is not
an absolute and despotic one, but dependent on the natural and divine law, and therefore
subject alike to the authority and jurisdiction of the Church, and to the vigilance and
administrative care of the State in view of the common good. Besides, the family is not a
perfect society, that is, it has not in itself all the means necessary for its full
development. In such cases, exceptional no doubt, the State does not put itself in the
place of the family, but merely supplies deficiencies, and provides suitable means, always
in conformity with the natural rights of the child and the supernatural rights of the
Church.

46. In general then it is the right and duty of the State to protect, according to the
rules of right reason and faith, the moral and religious education of youth, by removing
public impediments that stand in the way.

In the first place it pertains to the State, in view of the common good, to promote in
various ways the education and instruction of youth. It should begin by encouraging and
assisting, of its own accord, the initiative and activity of the Church and the family,
whose successes in this field have been clearly demonstrated by history and experience. It
should moreover supplement their work whenever this falls short of what is necessary, even
by means of its own schools and institutions. For the State more than any other society is
provided with the means put at its disposal for the needs of all, and it is only right
that it use these means to the advantage of those who have contributed them.[32]

47. Over and above this, the State can exact and take measures to secure that all its
citizens have the necessary knowledge of their civic and political duties, and a certain
degree of physical, intellectual and moral culture, which, considering the conditions of
our times, is really necessary for the common good.

48. However it is clear that in all these ways of promoting education and instruction,
both public and private, the State should respect the inherent rights of the Church and of
the family concerning Christian education, and moreover have regard for distributive
justice. Accordingly, unjust and unlawful is any monopoly, educational or scholastic,
which, physically or morally, forces families to make use of government schools, contrary
to the dictates of their Christian conscience, or contrary even to their legitimate
preferences.

49. This does not prevent the State from making due provision for the right
administration of public affairs and for the protection of its peace, within or without
the realm. These are things which directly concern the public good and call for special
aptitudes and special preparation. The State may therefore reserve to itself the
establishment and direction of schools intended to prepare for certain civic duties and
especially for military service, provided it be careful not to injure the rights of the
Church or of the family in what pertains to them. It is well to repeat this warning here;
for in these days there is spreading a spirit of nationalism which is false and
exaggerated, as well as dangerous to true peace and prosperity. Under its influence
various excesses are committed in giving a military turn to the so-called physical
training of boys (sometimes even of girls, contrary to the very instincts of human
nature); or again in usurping unreasonably on Sunday, the time which should be devoted to
religious duties and to family life at home. It is not our intention however to condemn
what is good in the spirit of discipline and legitimate bravery promoted by these methods;
We condemn only what is excessive, as for example violence, which must not be confounded
with courage nor with the noble sentiment of military valor in defense of country and
public order; or again exaltation of athleticism which even in classic pagan times marked
the decline and downfall of genuine physical training.

50. In general also it belongs to civil society and the State to provide what may be
called civic education, not only for its youth, but for all ages and classes. This
consists in the practice of presenting publicly to groups of individuals information
having an intellectual, imaginative and emotional appeal, calculated to draw their wills
to what is upright and honest, and to urge its practice by a sort of moral compulsion,
positively by disseminating such knowledge, and negatively by suppressing what is opposed
to it.[33] This civic education, so wide and varied in itself as to include almost every
activity of the State intended for the public good, ought also to be regulated by the
norms of rectitude, and therefore cannot conflict with the doctrines of the Church, which
is the divinely appointed teacher of these norms.

51. All that we have said so far regarding the activity of the State in educational
matters, rests on the solid and immovable foundation of the Catholic doctrine of The
Christian Constitution of States set forth in such masterly fashion by Our Predecessor Leo
XIII, notably in the Encyclicals Immortale Dei and Sapientiae Christianae.
He writes as follows: "God has divided the government of the human race between two
authorities, ecclesiastical and civil, establishing one over things divine, the other over
things human. Both are supreme, each in its own domain; each has its own fixed boundaries
which limit its activities. These boundaries are determined by the peculiar nature and the
proximate end of each, and describe as it were a sphere within which, with exclusive
right, each may develop its influence. As however the same subjects are under the two
authorities, it may happen that the same matter, though from a different point of view,
may come under the competence and jurisdiction of each of them. If follows that divine
Providence, whence both authorities have their origin, must have traced with due order the
proper line of action for each. The powers that are, are ordained of God."[34]

52. Now the education of youth is precisely one of those matters that belong both to
the Church and to the State, "though in different ways," as explained above.
"Therefore," continues Leo XIII, "between the two powers there must reign a
well-ordered harmony. Not without reason may this mutual agreement be compared to the
union of body and soul in man. Its nature and extent can only be determined by
considering, as we have said, the nature of each of the two powers, and in particular the
excellence and nobility of the respective ends. To one is committed directly and
specifically the charge of what is helpful in worldly matters; while the other is to
concern itself with the things that pertain to Heaven and eternity. Everything therefore
in human affairs that is in any way sacred, or has reference to the salvation of souls and
the worship of God, whether by its nature or by its end, is subject to the jurisdiction
and discipline of the Church. Whatever else is comprised in the civil and political order,
rightly comes under the authority of the State; for Christ commanded us to give to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."[35]

53. Whoever refuses to admit these principles, and hence to apply them to education,
must necessarily deny that Christ has founded His Church for the eternal salvation of
mankind, and maintain instead that civil society and the State are not subject to God and
to His law, natural and divine. Such a doctrine is manifestly impious, contrary to right
reason, and, especially in this matter of education, extremely harmful to the proper
training of youth, and disastrous as well for civil society as for the well-being of all
mankind. On the other hand from the application of these principles, there inevitably
result immense advantages for the right formation of citizens. This is abundantly proved
by the history of every age. Tertullian in his Apologeticus could throw down a challenge
to the enemies of the Church in the early days of Christianity, just as St. Augustine did
in his; and we today can repeat with him: "Let those who declare the teaching of
Christ to be opposed to the welfare of the State, furnish us with an army of soldiers such
as Christ says soldiers ought to be; let them give us subjects, husbands, wives, parents,
children, masters, servants, kings, judges, taxpayers and tax-gatherers who live up to the
teachings of Christ; and then let them dare assert that Christian doctrine is harmful to
the State. Rather let them not hesitate one moment to acclaim that doctrine, rightly
observed, the greatest safeguard of the State."[36]

54. While treating of education, it is not out of place to show here how an
ecclesiastical writer, who flourished in more recent times, during the Renaissance, the
holy and learned Cardinal Silvio Antoniano, to whom the cause of Christian education is
greatly indebted, has set forth most clearly this well established point of Catholic
doctrine. He had been a disciple of that wonderful educator of youth, St. Philip Neri; he
was teacher and Latin secretary to St. Charles Borromeo, and it was at the latter's
suggestion and under his inspiration that he wrote his splendid treatise on The
Christian Education of Youth. In it he argues as follows:

"The more closely the temporal power of a nation aligns itself with the spiritual,
and the more it fosters and promotes the latter, by so much the more it contributes to the
conservation of the commonwealth. For it is the aim of the ecclesiastical authority by the
use of spiritual means, to form good Christians in accordance with its own particular end
and object; and in doing this it helps at the same time to form good citizens, and
prepares them to meet their obligations as members of a civil society. This follows of
necessity because in the City of God, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a good citizen and
an upright man are absolutely one and the same thing. How grave therefore is the error of
those who separate things so closely united, and who think that they can produce good
citizens by ways and methods other than those which make for the formation of good
Christians. For, let human prudence say what it likes and reason as it pleases, it is
impossible to produce true temporal peace and tranquillity by things repugnant or opposed
to the peace and happiness of eternity."[37]

55. What is true of the State, is true also of science, scientific methods and
scientific research; they have nothing to fear from the full and perfect mandate which the
Church holds in the field of education. Our Catholic institutions, whatever their grade in
the educational and scientific world, have no need of apology. The esteem they enjoy, the
praise they receive, the learned works which they promote and produce in such abundance,
and above all, the men, fully and splendidly equipped, whom they provide for the
magistracy, for the professions, for the teaching career, in fact for every walk of life,
more than sufficiently testify in their favor.[38]

56. These facts moreover present a most striking confirmation of the Catholic doctrine
defined by the Vatican Council: "Not only is it impossible for faith and reason to be
at variance with each other, they are on the contrary of mutual help. For while right
reason establishes the foundations of Faith, and, by the help of its light, develops a
knowledge of the things of God, Faith on the other hand frees and preserves reason from
error and enriches it with varied knowledge. The Church therefore, far from hindering the
pursuit of the arts and sciences, fosters and promotes them in many ways. For she is
neither ignorant nor unappreciative of the many advantages which flow from them to
mankind. On the contrary she admits that just as they come from God, Lord of all
knowledge, so too if rightly used, with the help of His grace they lead to God. Nor does
she prevent the sciences, each in its own sphere, from making use of principles and
methods of their own. Only while acknowledging the freedom due to them, she takes every
precaution to prevent them from falling into error by opposition to divine doctrine, or
from overstepping their proper limits, and thus invading and disturbing the domain of
Faith."[39]

57. This norm of a just freedom in things scientific, serves also as an inviolable norm
of a just freedom in things didactic, or for rightly understood liberty in teaching; it
should be observed therefore in whatever instruction is imparted to others. Its obligation
is all the more binding in justice when there is question of instructing youth. For in
this work the teacher, whether public or private, has no absolute right of his own, but
only such as has been communicated to him by others. Besides every Christian child or
youth has a strict right to instruction in harmony with the teaching of the Church, the
pillar and ground of truth. And whoever disturbs the pupil's Faith in any way, does him
grave wrong, inasmuch as he abuses the trust which children place in their teachers, and
takes unfair advantage of their inexperience and of their natural craving for unrestrained
liberty, at once illusory and false.

58. In fact it must never be forgotten that the subject of Christian education is man
whole and entire, soul united to body in unity of nature, with all his faculties natural
and supernatural, such as right reason and revelation show him to be; man, therefore,
fallen from his original estate, but redeemed by Christ and restored to the supernatural
condition of adopted son of God, though without the preternatural privileges of bodily
immortality or perfect control of appetite. There remain therefore, in human nature the
effects of original sin, the chief of which are weakness of will and disorderly
inclinations.

59. "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child and the rod of correction shall
drive it away."[40] Disorderly inclinations then must be corrected, good tendencies
encouraged and regulated from tender childhood, and above all the mind must be enlightened
and the will strengthened by supernatural truth and by the means of grace, without which
it is impossible to control evil impulses, impossible to attain to the full and complete
perfection of education intended by the Church, which Christ has endowed so richly with
divine doctrine and with the Sacraments, the efficacious means of grace.

60. Hence every form of pedagogic naturalism which in any way excludes or weakens
supernatural Christian formation in the teaching of youth, is false. Every method of
education founded, wholly or in part, on the denial or forgetfulness of original sin and
of grace, and relying on the sole powers of human nature, is unsound. Such, generally
speaking, are those modern systems bearing various names which appeal to a pretended
self-government and unrestrained freedom on the part of the child, and which diminish or
even suppress the teacher's authority and action, attributing to the child an exclusive
primacy of initiative, and an activity independent of any higher law, natural or divine,
in the work of his education.

61. If any of these terms are used, less properly, to denote the necessity of a
gradually more active cooperation on the part of the pupil in his own education; if the
intention is to banish from education despotism and violence, which, by the way, just
punishment is not, this would be correct, but in no way new. It would mean only what has
been taught and reduced to practice by the Church in traditional Christian education, in
imitation of the method employed by God Himself towards His creatures, of whom He demands
active cooperation according to the nature of each; for His Wisdom "reacheth from end
to end mightily and ordereth all things sweetly."[41]

62. But alas! it is clear from the obvious meaning of the words and from experience,
that what is intended by not a few, is the withdrawal of education from every sort of
dependence on the divine law. So today we see, strange sight indeed, educators and
philosophers who spend their lives in searching for a universal moral code of education,
as if there existed no decalogue, no gospel law, no law even of nature stamped by God on
the heart of man, promulgated by right reason, and codified in positive revelation by God
Himself in the ten commandments. These innovators are wont to refer contemptuously to
Christian education as "heteronomous," "passive,"
"obsolete," because founded upon the authority of God and His holy law.

63. Such men are miserably deluded in their claim to emancipate, as they say, the
child, while in reality they are making him the slave of his own blind pride and of his
disorderly affections, which, as a logical consequence of this false system, come to be
justified as legitimate demands of a so-called autonomous nature.

64. But what is worse is the claim, not only vain but false, irreverent and dangerous,
to submit to research, experiment and conclusions of a purely natural and profane order,
those matters of education which belong to the supernatural order; as for example
questions of priestly or religious vocation, and in general the secret workings of grace
which indeed elevate the natural powers, but are infinitely superior to them, and may
nowise be subjected to physical laws, for "the Spirit breatheth where He
will."[42]

65. Another very grave danger is that naturalism which nowadays invades the field of
education in that most delicate matter of purity of morals. Far too common is the error of
those who with dangerous assurance and under an ugly term propagate a so-called
sex-education, falsely imagining they can forearm youths against the dangers of sensuality
by means purely natural, such as a foolhardy initiation and precautionary instruction for
all indiscriminately, even in public; and, worse still, by exposing them at an early age
to the occasions, in order to accustom them, so it is argued, and as it were to harden
them against such dangers.

66. Such persons grievously err in refusing to recognize the inborn weakness of human
nature, and the law of which the Apostle speaks, fighting against the law of the mind;[43]
and also in ignoring the experience of facts, from which it is clear that, particularly in
young people, evil practices are the effect not so much of ignorance of intellect as of
weakness of a will exposed to dangerous occasions, and unsupported by the means of grace.

67. In this extremely delicate matter, if, all things considered, some private
instruction is found necessary and opportune, from those who hold from God the commission
to teach and who have the grace of state, every precaution must be taken. Such precautions
are well known in traditional Christian education, and are adequately described by
Antoniano cited above, when he says:

"Such is our misery and inclination to sin, that often in the very things
considered to be remedies against sin, we find occasions for and inducements to sin
itself. Hence it is of the highest importance that a good father, while discussing with
his son a matter so delicate, should be well on his guard and not descend to details, nor
refer to the various ways in which this infernal hydra destroys with its poison so large a
portion of the world; otherwise it may happen that instead of extinguishing this fire, he
unwittingly stirs or kindles it in the simple and tender heart of the child. Speaking
generally, during the period of childhood it suffices to employ those remedies which
produce the double effect of opening the door to the virtue of purity and closing the door
upon vice."[44]

68. False also and harmful to Christian education is the so-called method of
"co-education." This too, by many of its supporters, is founded upon naturalism
and the denial of original sin; but by all, upon a deplorable confusion of ideas that
mistakes a leveling promiscuity and equality, for the legitimate association of the sexes.
The Creator has ordained and disposed perfect union of the sexes only in matrimony, and,
with varying degrees of contact, in the family and in society. Besides there is not in
nature itself, which fashions the two quite different in organism, in temperament, in
abilities, anything to suggest that there can be or ought to be promiscuity, and much less
equality, in the training of the two sexes. These, in keeping with the wonderful designs
of the Creator, are destined to complement each other in the family and in society,
precisely because of their differences, which therefore ought to be maintained and
encouraged during their years of formation, with the necessary distinction and
corresponding separation, according to age and circumstances. These principles, with due
regard to time and place, must, in accordance with Christian prudence, be applied to all
schools, particularly in the most delicate and decisive period of formation, that, namely,
of adolescence; and in gymnastic exercises and deportment, special care must be had of
Christian modesty in young women and girls, which is so gravely impaired by any kind of
exhibition in public.

69. Recalling the terrible words of the Divine Master: "Woe to the world because
of scandals!"[45] We most earnestly appeal to your solicitude and your watchfulness,
Venerable Brethren, against these pernicious errors, which, to the immense harm of youth,
are spreading far and wide among Christian peoples.

70. In order to obtain perfect education, it is of the utmost importance to see that
all those conditions which surround the child during the period of his formation, in other
words that the combination of circumstances which we call environment, correspond exactly
to the end proposed.

71. The first natural and necessary element in this environment, as regards education,
is the family, and this precisely because so ordained by the Creator Himself. Accordingly
that education, as a rule, will be more effective and lasting which is received in a
well-ordered and well-disciplined Christian family; and more efficacious in proportion to
the clear and constant good example set, first by the parents, and then by the other
members of the household.

72. It is not our intention to treat formally the question of domestic education, nor
even to touch upon its principal points. The subject is too vast. Besides there are not
lacking special treatises on this topic by authors, both ancient and modern, well known
for their solid Catholic doctrine. One which seems deserving of special mention is the
golden treatise already referred to, of Antoniano, on The Christian Education of Youth,
which St. Charles Borromeo ordered to be read in public to parents assembled in their
churches.

73. Nevertheless, Venerable Brethren and beloved children, We wish to call your
attention in a special manner to the present-day lamentable decline in family education.
The offices and professions of a transitory and earthly life, which are certainly of far
less importance, are prepared for by long and careful study; whereas for the fundamental
duty and obligation of educating their children, many parents have little or no
preparation, immersed as they are in temporal cares. The declining influence of domestic
environment is further weakened by another tendency, prevalent almost everywhere today,
which, under one pretext or another, for economic reasons, or for reasons of industry,
trade or politics, causes children to be more and more frequently sent away from home even
in their tenderest years. And there is a country where the children are actually being
torn from the bosom of the family, to be formed (or, to speak more accurately, to be
deformed and depraved) in godless schools and associations, to irreligion and hatred,
according to the theories of advanced socialism; and thus is renewed in a real and more
terrible manner the slaughter of the Innocents.

74. For the love of Our Savior Jesus Christ, therefore, we implore pastors of souls, by
every means in their power, by instructions and catechisms, by word of mouth and written
articles widely distributed, to warn Christian parents of their grave obligations. And
this should be done not in a merely theoretical and general way, but with practical and
specific application to the various responsibilities of parents touching the religious,
moral and civil training of their children, and with indication of the methods best
adapted to make their training effective, supposing always the influence of their own
exemplary lives. The Apostle of the Gentiles did not hesitate to descend to such details
of practical instruction in his epistles, especially in the Epistle to the Ephesians,
where among other things he gives this advice: "And you, fathers, provoke not your
children to anger."[46] This fault is the result not so much of excessive severity,
as of impatience and of ignorance of means best calculated to effect a desired correction;
it is also due to the all too common relaxation of parental discipline which fails to
check the growth of evil passions in the hearts of the younger generation. Parents
therefore, and all who take their place in the work of education, should be careful to
make right use of the authority given them by God, whose vicars in a true sense they are.
This authority is not given for their own advantage, but for the proper up-bringing of
their children in a holy and filial "fear of God, the beginning of wisdom," on
which foundation alone all respect for authority can rest securely; and without which,
order, tranquillity and prosperity, whether in the family or in society, will be
impossible.

75. To meet the weakness of man's fallen nature, God in His Goodness has provided the
abundant helps of His grace and the countless means with which He has endowed the Church,
the great family of Christ. The Church therefore is the educational environment most
intimately and harmoniously associated with the Christian family.

76. This educational environment of the Church embraces the Sacraments, divinely
efficacious means of grace, the sacred ritual, so wonderfully instructive, and the
material fabric of her churches, whose liturgy and art have an immense educational value;
but it also includes the great number and variety of schools, associations and
institutions of all kinds, established for the training of youth in Christian piety,
together with literature and the sciences, not omitting recreation and physical culture.
And in this inexhaustible fecundity of educational works, how marvelous, how incomparable
is the Church's maternal providence! So admirable too is the harmony which she maintains
with the Christian family, that the Church and the family may be said to constitute
together one and the same temple of Christian education.

77. Since however the younger generations must be trained in the arts and sciences for
the advantage and prosperity of civil society, and since the family of itself is unequal
to this task, it was necessary to create that social institution, the school. But let it
be borne in mind that this institution owes its existence to the initiative of the family
and of the Church, long before it was undertaken by the State. Hence considered in its
historical origin, the school is by its very nature an institution subsidiary and
complementary to the family and to the Church. It follows logically and necessarily that
it must not be in opposition to, but in positive accord with those other two elements, and
form with them a perfect moral union, constituting one sanctuary of education, as it were,
with the family and the Church. Otherwise it is doomed to fail of its purpose, and to
become instead an agent of destruction.

78. This principle we find recognized by a layman, famous for his pedagogical writings,
though these because of their liberalism cannot be unreservedly praised. "The
school," he writes, "if not a temple, is a den." And again: "When
literary, social, domestic and religious education do not go hand in hand, man is unhappy
and helpless."[47]

79. From this it follows that the so-called "neutral" or "lay"
school, from which religion is excluded, is contrary to the fundamental principles of
education. Such a school moreover cannot exist in practice; it is bound to become
irreligious. There is no need to repeat what Our Predecessors have declared on this point,
especially Pius IX and Leo XIII, at times when laicism was beginning in a special manner
to infest the public school. We renew and confirm their declarations,[48] as well as the
Sacred Canons in which the frequenting of non-Catholic schools, whether neutral or mixed,
those namely which are open to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, is forbidden for
Catholic children, and can be at most tolerated, on the approval of the Ordinary alone,
under determined circumstances of place and time, and with special precautions.[49]
Neither can Catholics admit that other type of mixed school, (least of all the so-called
"ecole unique," obligatory on all), in which the students are provided with
separate religious instruction, but receive other lessons in common with non-Catholic
pupils from non-Catholic teachers.

80. For the mere fact that a school gives some religious instruction (often extremely
stinted), does not bring it into accord with the rights of the Church and of the Christian
family, or make it a fit place for Catholic students. To be this, it is necessary that all
the teaching and the whole organization of the school, and its teachers, syllabus and
text-books in every branch, be regulated by the Christian spirit, under the direction and
maternal supervision of the Church; so that Religion may be in very truth the foundation
and crown of the youth's entire training; and this in every grade of school, not only the
elementary, but the intermediate and the higher institutions of learning as well. To use
the words of Leo XIII: "It is necessary not only that religious instruction be given
to the young at certain fixed times, but also that every other subject taught, be
permeated with Christian piety. If this is wanting, if this sacred atmosphere does not
pervade and warm the hearts of masters and scholars alike, little good can be expected
from any kind of learning, and considerable harm will often be the consequence."[50]

81. And let no one say that in a nation where there are different religious beliefs, it
is impossible to provide for public instruction otherwise than by neutral or mixed
schools. In such a case it becomes the duty of the State, indeed it is the easier and more
reasonable method of procedure, to leave free scope to the initiative of the Church and
the family, while giving them such assistance as justice demands. That this can be done to
the full satisfaction of families, and to the advantage of education and of public peace
and tranquillity, is clear from the actual experience of some countries comprising
different religious denominations. There the school legislation respects the rights of the
family, and Catholics are free to follow their own system of teaching in schools that are
entirely Catholic. Nor is distributive justice lost sight of, as is evidenced by the
financial aid granted by the State to the several schools demanded by the families.

82. In other countries of mixed creeds, things are otherwise, and a heavy burden weighs
upon Catholics, who under the guidance of their Bishops and with the indefatigable
cooperation of the clergy, secular and regular, support Catholic schools for their
children entirely at their own expense; to this they feel obliged in conscience, and with
a generosity and constancy worthy of all praise, they are firmly determined to make
adequate provision for what they openly profess as their motto: "Catholic education
in Catholic schools for all the Catholic youth." If such education is not aided from
public funds, as distributive justice requires, certainly it may not be opposed by any
civil authority ready to recognize the rights of the family, and the irreducible claims of
legitimate liberty.

83. Where this fundamental liberty is thwarted or interfered with, Catholics will never
feel, whatever may have been the sacrifices already made, that they have done enough, for
the support and defense of their schools and for the securing of laws that will do them
justice.

84. For whatever Catholics do in promoting and defending the Catholic school for their
children, is a genuinely religious work and therefore an important task of "Catholic
Action." For this reason the associations which in various countries are so zealously
engaged in this work of prime necessity, are especially dear to Our paternal heart and are
deserving of every commendation .

85. Let it be loudly proclaimed and well understood and recognized by all, that
Catholics, no matter what their nationality, in agitating for Catholic schools for their
children, are not mixing in party politics, but are engaged in a religious enterprise
demanded by conscience. They do not intend to separate their children either from the body
of the nation or its spirit, but to educate them in a perfect manner, most conducive to
the prosperity of the nation. Indeed a good Catholic, precisely because of his Catholic
principles, makes the better citizen, attached to his country, and loyally submissive to
constituted civil authority in every legitimate form of government.

86. In such a school, in harmony with the Church and the Christian family, the various
branches of secular learning will not enter into conflict with religious instruction to
the manifest detriment of education. And if, when occasion arises, it be deemed necessary
to have the students read authors propounding false doctrine, for the purpose of refuting
it, this will be done after due preparation and with such an antidote of sound doctrine,
that it will not only do no harm, but will be an aid to the Christian formation of youth.

87. In such a school moreover, the study of the vernacular and of classical literature
will do no damage to moral virtue. There the Christian teacher will imitate the bee, which
takes the choicest part of the flower and leaves the rest, as St. Basil teaches in his
discourse to youths on the study of the classics.[51] Nor will this necessary caution,
suggested also by the pagan Quintilian,[52] in any way hinder the Christian teacher from
gathering and turning to profit, whatever there is of real worth in the systems and
methods of our modern times, mindful of the Apostle's advice: "Prove all things: hold
fast that which is good."[53] Hence in accepting the new, he will not hastily abandon
the old, which the experience of centuries has found expedient and profitable. This is
particularly true in the teaching of Latin, which in our days is falling more and more
into disuse, because of the unreasonable rejection of methods so successfully used by that
sane humanism, whose highest development was reached in the schools of the Church. These
noble traditions of the past require that the youth committed to Catholic schools be fully
instructed in the letters and sciences in accordance with the exigencies of the times.
They also demand that the doctrine imparted be deep and solid, especially in sound
philosophy, avoiding the muddled superficiality of those "who perhaps would have
found the necessary, had they not gone in search of the superfluous."[54] In this
connection Christian teachers should keep in mind what Leo XIII says in a pithy sentence:
"Greater stress must be laid on the employment of apt and solid methods of teaching,
and, what is still more important, on bringing into full conformity with the Catholic
faith, what is taught in literature, in the sciences, and above all in philosophy, on
which depends in great part the right orientation of the other branches of
knowledge."[55]

88. Perfect schools are the result not so much of good methods as of good teachers,
teachers who are thoroughly prepared and well-grounded in the matter they have to teach;
who possess the intellectual and moral qualifications required by their important office;
who cherish a pure and holy love for the youths confided to them, because they love Jesus
Christ and His Church, of which these are the children of predilection; and who have
therefore sincerely at heart the true good of family and country. Indeed it fills Our soul
with consolation and gratitude towards the divine Goodness to see, side by side with
religious men and women engaged in teaching, such a large number of excellent lay
teachers, who, for their greater spiritual advancement, are often grouped in special
sodalities and associations, which are worthy of praise and encouragement as most
excellent and powerful auxiliaries of "Catholic Action." All these labor
unselfishly with zeal and perseverance in what St. Gregory Nazianzen calls "the art
of arts and the science of sciences,"[56] the direction and formation of youth. Of
them also it may be said in the words of the divine Master: "The harvest indeed is
great, but the laborers few."[57] Let us then pray the Lord of the harvest to send
more such workers into the field of Christian education; and let their formation be one of
the principal concerns of the pastors of souls and of the superiors of Religious Orders.

89. It is no less necessary to direct and watch the education of the adolescent,
"soft as wax to be moulded into vice,"[58] in whatever other environment he may
happen to be, removing occasions of evil and providing occasions for good in his
recreations and social intercourse; for "evil communications corrupt good
manners."[59]

90. More than ever nowadays an extended and careful vigilance is necessary, inasmuch as
the dangers of moral and religious shipwreck are greater for inexperienced youth.
Especially is this true of impious and immoral books, often diabolically circulated at low
prices; of the cinema, which multiplies every kind of exhibition; and now also of the
radio, which facilitates every kind of communications. These most powerful means of
publicity, which can be of great utility for instruction and education when directed by
sound principles, are only too often used as an incentive to evil passions and greed for
gain. St. Augustine deplored the passion for the shows of the circus which possessed even
some Christians of his time, and he dramatically narrates the infatuation for them,
fortunately only temporary, of his disciple and friend Alipius.[60] How often today must
parents and educators bewail the corruption of youth brought about by the modern theater
and the vile book!

91. Worthy of all praise and encouragement therefore are those educational associations
which have for their object to point out to parents and educators, by means of suitable
books and periodicals, the dangers to morals and religion that are often cunningly
disguised in books and theatrical representations. In their spirit of zeal for the souls
of the young, they endeavor at the same time to circulate good literature and to promote
plays that are really instructive, going so far as to put up at the cost of great
sacrifices, theaters and cinemas, in which virtue will have nothing to suffer and much to
gain.

92. This necessary vigilance does not demand that young people be removed from the
society in which they must live and save their souls; but that today more than ever they
should be forewarned and forearmed as Christians against the seductions and the errors of
the world, which, as Holy Writ admonishes us, is all "concupiscence of the flesh,
concupiscence of the eyes and pride of life."[61] Let them be what Tertullian wrote
of the first Christians, and what Christians of all times ought to be, "sharers in
the possession of the world, not of its error."[62]

93. This saying of Tertullian brings us to the topic which we propose to treat in the
last place, and which is of the greatest importance, that is, the true nature of Christian
education, as deduced from its proper end. Its consideration reveals with noonday
clearness the pre-eminent educational mission of the Church.

94. The proper and immediate end of Christian education is to cooperate with divine
grace in forming the true and perfect Christian, that is, to form Christ Himself in those
regenerated by Baptism, according to the emphatic expression of the Apostle: "My
little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you."[63] For
the true Christian must live a supernatural life in Christ: "Christ who is your
life,"[64] and display it in all his actions: "That the life also of Jesus may
be made manifest in our mortal flesh."[65]

95. For precisely this reason, Christian education takes in the whole aggregate of
human life, physical and spiritual, intellectual and moral, individual, domestic and
social, not with a view of reducing it in any way, but in order to elevate, regulate and
perfect it, in accordance with the example and teaching of Christ.

96. Hence the true Christian, product of Christian education, is the supernatural man
who thinks, judges and acts constantly and consistently in accordance with right reason
illumined by the supernatural light of the example and teaching of Christ; in other words,
to use the current term, the true and finished man of character. For, it is not every kind
of consistency and firmness of conduct based on subjective principles that makes true
character, but only constancy in following the eternal principles of justice, as is
admitted even by the pagan poet when he praises as one and the same "the man who is
just and firm of purpose."[66] And on the other hand, there cannot be full justice
except in giving to God what is due to God, as the true Christian does.

97. The scope and aim of Christian education as here described, appears to the worldly
as an abstraction, or rather as something that cannot be attained without the suppression
or dwarfing of the natural faculties, and without a renunciation of the activities of the
present life, and hence inimical to social life and temporal prosperity, and contrary to
all progress in letters, arts and sciences, and all the other elements of civilization. To
a like objection raised by the ignorance and the prejudice of even cultured pagans of a
former day, and repeated with greater frequency and insistence in modern times, Tertullian
has replied as follows: "We are not strangers to life. We are fully aware of the
gratitude we owe to God, our Lord and Creator. We reject none of the fruits of His
handiwork; we only abstain from their immoderate or unlawful use. We are living in the
world with you; we do not shun your forum, your markets, your baths, your shops, your
factories, your stables, your places of business and traffic. We take shop with you and we
serve in your armies; we are farmers and merchants with you; we interchange skilled labor
and display our works in public for your service. How we can seem unprofitable to you with
whom we live and of whom we are, I know not."[67]

98. The true Christian does not renounce the activities of this life, he does not stunt
his natural faculties; but he develops and perfects them, by coordinating them with the
supernatural. He thus ennobles what is merely natural in life and secures for it new
strength in the material and temporal order, no less then in the spiritual and eternal.

99. This fact is proved by the whole history of Christianity and its institutions,
which is nothing else but the history of true civilization and progress up to the present
day. It stands out conspicuously in the lives of the numerous Saints, whom the Church, and
she alone, produces, in whom is perfectly realized the purpose of Christian education, and
who have in every way ennobled and benefited human society. Indeed, the Saints have ever
been, are, and ever will be the greatest benefactors of society, and perfect models for
every class and profession, for every state and condition of life, from the simple and
uncultured peasant to the master of sciences and letters, from the humble artisan to the
commander of armies, from the father of a family to the ruler of peoples and nations, from
simple maidens and matrons of the domestic hearth to queens and empresses. What shall we
say of the immense work which has been accomplished even for the temporal well-being of
men by missionaries of the Gospel, who have brought and still bring to barbarous tribes
the benefits of civilization together with the light of the Faith? What of the founders of
so many social and charitable institutions, of the vast numbers of saintly educators, men
and women, who have perpetuated and multiplied their life work, by leaving after them
prolific institutions of Christian education, in aid of families and for the inestimable
advantage of nations?

100. Such are the fruits of Christian education. Their price and value is derived from
the supernatural virtue and life in Christ which Christian education forms and develops in
man. Of this life and virtue Christ our Lord and Master is the source and dispenser. By
His example He is at the same time the universal model accessible to all, especially to
the young in the period of His hidden life, a life of labor and obedience, adorned with
all virtues, personal, domestic and social, before God and men.

101. Now all this array of priceless educational treasures which We have barely touched
upon, is so truly a property of the Church as to form her very substance, since she is the
mystical body of Christ, the immaculate spouse of Christ, and consequently a most
admirable mother and an incomparable and perfect teacher. This thought inspired St.
Augustine, the great genius of whose blessed death we are about to celebrate the fifteenth
centenary, with accents of tenderest love for so glorious a mother: "O Catholic
Church, true Mother of Christians! Not only dost thou preach to us, as is meet, how purely
and chastely we are to worship God Himself, Whom to possess is life most blessed; thou
dost moreover so cherish neighborly love and charity, that all the infirmities to which
sinful souls are subject, find their most potent remedy in thee. Childlike thou art in
molding the child, strong with the young man, gentle with the aged, dealing with each
according to his needs of mind of body. Thou dost subject child to parent in a sort of
free servitude, and settest parent over child in a jurisdiction of love. Thou bindest
brethren to brethren by the bond of religion, stronger and closer then the bond of blood
.... Thou unitest citizen to citizen, nation to nation, yea, all men, in a union not of
companionship only, but of brotherhood, reminding them of their common origin. Thou
teachest kings to care for their people, and biddest people to be subject to their kings.
Thou teachest assiduously to whom honor is due, to whom love, to whom reverence, to whom
fear, to whom comfort, to whom rebuke, to whom punishment; showing us that whilst not all
things nor the same things are due to all, charity is due to all and offense to
none."[68]

102. Let us then, Venerable Brethren, raise our hands and our hearts in supplication to
Heaven, "to the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls,"[69] to the divine King
"who gives laws to rulers," that in His almighty power He may cause these
splendid fruits of Christian education to be gathered in ever greater abundance "in
the whole world," for the lasting benefit of individuals and of nations.

As a pledge of these heavenly favors, with paternal affection We impart to you,
Venerable Brethren, to your clergy and your people, the Apostolic Benediction.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, the thirty-first day of December, in the year 1929, the
eighth of Our Pontificate.

28. "The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union
repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them
to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature
of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the
high duty, to recognize, and prepare him for additional duties." U.S. Supreme Court
Decision in the Oregon School Case, June 1, 1925.